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Female university students between 18 and 20 years old formed the backbone of the movement when it was formed in 2008.[2] In Kiev, there are about 300 active participants in the movement.[10] There are few male members of FEMEN.[1] The group comprises some 20 topless activists and 300 fully clothed members.[11][12] Most of its demonstrations are staged in Kiev,[4][8] but FEMEN has also held actions in cities like Odessa,[13]Dnipropetrovsk[14] and Zaporizhia.[15] The goals of the organization is “to shake women in Ukraine, making them socially active; to organize in 2017 a women’s revolution.”[10] The group has stated it has enjoyed limited success in pushing its agenda.[16] As of late April 2010 the organisation is contemplating becoming a political party to run for seats in the October 2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election.[1][10]

FEMEN justifies its provocative methods stating “This is the only way to be heard in this country. If we staged simple protests with banners, then our claims would not have been noticed”.[17] The organisation plans to become the biggest and the most influential feminist movement in Europe.[3][10]

Some members claim their involvement in FEMEN caused their families to become alienated from them.[10][18]

The movement was founded in 2008 by Anna Hutsol (born 1984, most FEMEN members are younger[2]) after she became attuned to the sad stories of Ukrainian woman duped by false promises from abroad:[2] “I set up FEMEN because I realised that there was a lack of women activists in our society; Ukraine is male-oriented and women take a passive role.”[30] Initially Femen gained attention by demonstrating while dressed in underwear: however, in August 2009 Oksana Shachko bared her breasts at a protest in Kiev.[31] Since then Femen have regularly protested ‘topless’, and the organization has staged noticeable erotically-flavored rallies (among others) near the building of the Cabinet of Ministers, at Maidan Nezalezhnosti, the Turkish embassy in Ukraine[2] and in front of the Iranian embassy to oppose the expected execution of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani.[32] While most of the protests have been confined to going ‘topless’, in October 2010 Shachko exposed her buttocks outside a locked toilet in a demonstration to protest about the lack of public toilets in Kiev;[11]and four of the group members staged a similar protest in Kiev in February 2011.[33]

Hutsol is adamantly opposed to legalizing prostitution in Ukraine.[2] FEMEN proposed the introduction of criminal responsibility for the use of sex industry services late in May 2009.[34] FEMEN has protested against what they argue are moves being made by the Ukrainian government to legalize prostitution during the EURO 2012 championships.[35] The group asked UEFA and the Ukrainian government to create a social program devoted to the problem ofsex tourism and prostitution in Ukraine; to inform football fans that prostitution is illegal in Ukraine; and to take additional steps to fight against prostitution and sex tourism.[36]

A demonstration by a group called RU FEMEN in the Russian capital Moscow late April 2011[37] was immediately denounced as a fake offspring of FEMEN.[20][21] FEMEN accused Russian political party United Russia of having set up this RU FEMEN.[20][21]

FEMEN’s actions received criticisms in Ukraine for “being meaningless” or “being outright tasteless”.[11] According to Ukrainian gender studies expert Tetyana Bureychak, most Ukrainian women are unimpressed by FEMEN.[38] According to sociologist Oleh Demkiv of the Lviv University, FEMEN does not enjoy popular support.[39]

According to Reuters “Femen represents — albeit on a modest scale — one of the few regular street protest movements”.[12] Some parents of FEMEN activists have wondered if they were addicted to drugs.[10] In Ukraine the FEMEN activists have been labeled (in 2010) “girls Tymoshenko” and/or “Putin‘s agents[10][18][relevant? – discuss]; it must be noted that FEMEN has demonstrated against Putin[40] and the organization never did sympathize with Tymoshenko.[41] The organization claims to be an independent organization “Beyond politics and beyond religion”.[10]